Sedition

He's young, brilliant, and a danger to the State.
His name is William Shakespeare.

A Political Thriller about power, love, betrayal - and theatre as political dynamite.

In a world where a whisper against the State can get your balls chopped off, then your head, a hot-shot playwright from the sticks dares to put an attack on the Head of State on a public stage. The play sends shockwaves throughout the country – and the Queen into a flame of fear. ?

This is the untold story of young Shakespeare’s desperate struggle to save his country being torn apart by civil war. And how the young 21-year-old father of three finds his life spiralling out of control when he falls helplessly in love with a beautiful 17-year-old boy.

How will Elizabeth silence this political subversive, fast becoming the most popular playwright in London who’s calling into question her God-given right to rule? ?

The scene is set for an explosive battle for power.

But behind the public fight for control of the theatre – the state censorship of plays, the proclamation to tear down the theatres – there are the inner conflicts of the two main players.

Will, wrestling with fears of what will happen to his children and the actors if carries on his fight, torn between his loyalty to his Queen and the country he loves.

Elizabeth, already clinging on to her fragile power, desperately lonely, hating growing old, still struggling against her fierce sexual desire for the young Earl of Essex.

And now, an upstart playwright has opened all the old wounds of her deepest regret – the children she should have had.

The private and public lives of all become fatally encoiled. When Will’s lover, Southampton, joins forces with Elizabeth’s former lover, Essex, in his plot to overthrow the Queen, Will is drawn into the most dangerous game of all.

Industry Feedback on SEDITION

'I found this screenplay original and considerably accomplished. I particularly liked the way you created a truthful and original picture of another time in our history at the same time as telling us a strong and imaginative story’
- SIMON RELPH, Independent Producer, former Chairman of BAFTA and author of The Relph Report?